Ethnography by Richa Sehgal

Society, Design & Technology ‘Bazaar One’ Information Kiosk for Local Markets

Submitted by: Arti Mohan & Richa Sehgal Guided by Dr. Bibhudutta Baral

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NO. First Phase Research Observation

Design Proposal

User Research

User Research Findings

Redefining the Brief

Personas

Information Organisation

Explorations

Design iterations

Usability Evaluation

Final Information Kiosk

First Phase Research Observation Visiting Local Bazaars of Bangalore

First phase Research Observation

Yeshwanthpur market, Bangalore th

Date : 20 July, 2011 Time : 11:00 AM – 12:00 noon Geographical area covered : 1 – 1.5 km radius

A scene of busy Yeshwantpur Circle

Distinctive features Unorganised, local market Yashwanthpur market is located near the old railway station of yashwanthpur. This gives it an old, rustic and crowded look. Being close to railway station and bus stand there is a lot of hustle bustle on the road.

Traffic Signal at Yeshwantpur Circle

The shops are mainly those of grocery vendors, retailers, other daily use products & services. Street leading to the fish and meat market

The area is also undergoing construction work at places leading to dug up roads and dust everywhere. One can find people not at all bothered by these disturbances.

Young boys playing cricket on the dug up road in Yeshwantpur market

Traffic rules inside the market are not very strictly followed. Although one can find many traffic cops roaming around but there seems exist some sort of understanding between them and people. Parking of mini trucks and vans can be seen almost everywhere in the area.

Tempos and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Noisy and Smelly A big section of the market is dedicated to grocery vendors who set up their shops on the road side. This leads to all the customer dealings happening on the road with noises of bargaining, promoting, vehicle horns all adding up. d Another section of market is full of fish an meat vendors and so the place has very strong smell of sea food and meat. The smell can be offending to many people.

Smelly Street leading to fish and meat market and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Malleshwaram, Bangalore Time : 12:15 PM – 2:00 PM Geographical area covered : Stretch of 3 km

Organized & green malleswaram market Street leading to fish and meat market

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Distinctive features

Organized and orderly Malleshwaram is a locality that comprises of both residential and commercial establishments. Because of which the area is well maintained and managed. Good greenery and an organized market. Since the roads are all one way, traffic is well managed. Both local vendors and big showrooms are on the either side of the main road, adding color and variety to the pedestrians’ path. An order in form of traffic and people’s movement is clearly visible. Upscale yet local A good combination of big brands showrooms and local vendor shops make malleshwaram a confluence of people belonging to all walks of life.

Mix of local and upscale market

Girls, mostly students waiting for their bus

Street leading to fish and meat market

malleswaram market

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Street leading to fish and meat market

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Mostly populated by youngsters(students),one can find places like bus stops as one of the most active places there. From luxurious sedans to BMTC buses, the place is brought alive by the sheer variety it offers. Mixture of Audience The two parallel roads Sampige and Margosa serve to different purposes and audience. Margosa road caters to big apartments and bunglows with bigger retail showrooms on either side while Sampige road can be purely identified by it s local & traditional commercial character where there are small roadside vendors selling cultural artifacts and things that are most commonly used in day to day life. The most crowded and occupied place is the 8th cross street where evening life can be

Fragnances and colors in the flower-‐fruit market

felt to the utmost.

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

What makes it different is the good quality of local things sold by street vendors at affordable prices ranging from fruits & flowers to sophisticated bags & colorful makeup items.

Culture & Religion The culture & religion is followed so strictly by people here that you can see hundreds of people in

A good mix of Culture and Religion can be found in the market

Street leading to fish and meat market

religious processions very frequently even at 10 PM in the night and when the rest of city goes to sleep. mini trucks occupy parking lot Every nook and corner is occupied by religious temples and kalyana mandapas.

At every festival or any pious occasion you can see street vendors selling banana leaves for setting up entrance mandapas in front of houses. All the vehicles whether it’s a luxury car or an auto is decorated with these banana leaves as if it were a god. The temple street is another beautiful example of how everyday life happens there.

A shop selling pooja items for local festivals Street leading to fish and meat market and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Mobile shops Another innovative way of displaying and selling eating stuff in the trunk of the car was observed by us near the temple street. This mobile way of selling stuff saves the cost of setting up the stall along with the hassle free logistics. This trend has become so popular that even near Sankey tank , where children and adults come to spend their evenings these vehicles are stacked on the entrance selling toys and eating stuff. Encroachment on the Pavement Encroachment is a problem as inner streets are not that wide and on both sides the vehicles of the shop vendors keep lying which cause inconvenience to the people walking on foot.

Display of Items on footpath blocking the way for pedestrians

Street leading to fish and meat market

Some streets are even blocked with the help of big boulders to allow parking of vehicles. But the and mini trucks occupy parking lot colourful life blurs every obstacle and makes life freely flowing and enjoyable here.

Majestic, Bangalore Time : 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM Geographical area covered : radius of 0.5 – 1 Km

Bird’s eye view of Majestic Bus Stand

Street leading to fish and meat market and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Distinctive features Activity & Patterns

Majestic, being the biggest Bus Stand in the city and also being close to the city railway station, is full of activity and life. The continuous incoming and outgoing buses and passengers makes it a very ‘happening’ place.

Long queue of Buses waiting to dock at respective platforms

Street leading to fish and meat market and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Auto queues outside majestic resembles a bee’s swarm Street leading to fish and meat market and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Even though there is a continuous motion that one can notice, it is the patterns in these movements that stand out. The pattern in which a crowd moves, the pattern in which buses are moving, the pattern in which the whole system is working; all are very prominent.

Variety of Crowd Being the central places for buses from other cities and within the city , Majestic finds people from all walks of life coming there.

At Majestic, Everybody has to go somewhere

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

From IT professional in AC Volvos to a govt. servant or a young student in a local bus, everybody blends into the sea of people there. Local shops include cheap eating joints and one can find passengers surrounding them. Many such people are also there who don’t really have anywhere to go or anything to do. They just sit there, occupying the scarcely available benches , and reading newspapers throughout the day. 12

Shivajinagar th

Date : 22 July, 2011 Time : 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Geographical area covered : radius of 1 – 2 Km

Shivajinagar Bus Stop

Distinctive features

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Activity & Patterns

Shivaji Nagar is a multicultural place with raw business of life. The marketplace can be seen as a composition of small repeating patterns of different variety, which combine to form bigger elements of commerce and trade and take a bold and practical shape of business in the form of shops.

Variety of Crowd

Local shops at shivajinagar and mini trucks occupy parking lot

There crowd comprises of as many shopkeepers and businessmen as the number of customers. The volume of crowd varies as per the time of the day. For example till noon there are shopkeepers & businessmen and as the day progresses customers start filling the streets. 13

Buildings like Hospitals, Church, Mosque draw a lot of crowd here

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

People are mainly from lower middle class and bottom pyramid of society. Beggars are everywhere to be seen because of presence of religious places like church, mosque , temple, hospital, hotels etc. Public buses are the main mode of transportation. There are a variety of cheap eating joints and hotels due to proximity of the bus stand. Small Shops A lot of handicrafts and cane crafts shops are spreaded over the entire place. As the small elements/objects/products in a particular shop are of particular kind like in flower shop there are small multicolored flowers, in bangle shop there are variety of bangles, in the brass item shop there are small individual pieces of brass collectibles, in salwaar-‐kameez shop there are different suit-‐salwaaars. Thus almost every shop in Shivajinagar comprised of repetition of small elements forming the entire shop.

Retailers as innovators

Commercial Street Time : 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Geographical area covered : radius of 1 – 1.5 Km

Commercial street in perspective

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Distinctive features People and Activity Crowd progressing in as the day progresses

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Located just few meters away from Shivaji nagar, the street i s entirely different in character. An upscale market with big brand showrooms on either side of the street, Commercial Street is one of the ‘happening’ places in Bangalore. 15

There are small shops also in by lanes of commercial street which have all kinds of accessories catering to female audience. A lot of luxury cars occupy the one side of the road with automatic parking meters.

Automated Parking meters are common in commerical street

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Old fashioned tailors in the new fashioned street and mini trucks occupy parking lot

The latest trends in fashion can be seen here as people from upper strata of society can be seen roaming around. Jewelry shops are the major attraction of Commercial Street where one can find gold and silver at cheaper rates. Home Décor for high society

and mini trucks occupy parking lot

Although the traffic is smooth but at times congestion occurs because of the mosque at one of the junctions where a lot of people gather for daily Namaaz. The police station of Commercial Street stands apart because of its architecture.

Unique architecture of Police station

The police station of Commercial Street stands apart because of its architecture.

Design Proposal Identifying Opportunity Areas

Bazaar One

doorway to local markets…

Identification of Need for Design Intervention During our research for first phase, we observed many local market places like Yeshwanthpur, Malleshwaram, Majestic Market, Shivajinagar and Commercial Street. A common feature amongst them all was that the places were unorganized and not planned. The high level of activity in these areas does not allow people to interact much. So, a person visiting these markets finds hard time exploring and looking for particular items or shops. Because of lack of detailed information about these local markets, many people find difficulties in locating shops dedicated to specific items, identifying streets and by lanes and the kind of business they offer, Business hours & days a particular market operates, locating available parking slots in the markets, public transport facilities to and from the market and many more such things.(ATMs, Banks, Emergency Services etc). Also the kind of market it is; its character; is also something people get to know only after visiting that market and not beforehand.

Design Solution Proposed ‘Bazaar One’ is a design solution addressing the above mentioned problems. Inspired by Bangalore One, this would allow general public to access detailed information about local markets of Bangalore. Addressing the specialties of each market, ‘Bazaar One’ would serve as one stop solution for all the information that needs to be known about local bazaars. The service would work at different stages of a customer journey. For instance, when at the market street like Malleshwaram, a person can check out the ‘Bazaar One’ digital kiosks to access information about the whole area. He or she can easily filter through various options the market offers. All this at a convenience of a touch of a screen. The digital Kiosks for Bazaar One would be placed at prominent locations through the market. Placing them near ATMs etc. would help in easy access and preventing vandalism. Another scenario where this service can be very useful is while planning to go to a market. Sitting at home or even while travelling, ‘Bazaar One’ would allow people to browse through market details and parking conditions there through either a mobile or web based application. This would help in planning visits to markets beforehand and hence save time. Category wise markets in the city as well as business hours details would be easily available to public. To sum it up, this solution uses technology to bring information about local, unorganized and unexplored bazaars to the local people. Using physical digital kiosks, web and mobile based application, ‘Bazaar One’ aims at making the shopping experience of average citizen more comfortable and enjoyable.

User Research Proposing the idea with Target Audience

User Research Interview Questions Based on the brief we went to the market and interacted with target audience. We shared our concept about Bazaar One touchscreen information kiosk with them. Following are the questions that are the part of the survey we conducted. 1. How frequently you visit a local market? 2. Which is your favourite local market in city? Why? 3. How do you usually commute to that place? 4. What problems do you face while locating your shop? 5. How do you seek directions when in a new place or market? 6. Do you plan out your shopping before going to the market? 7. Do you have to look for a parking space everytime you go the market? 8. While in market, do you have to search for a nearby restaurant/coffee shop? 9. Do you usually have to hunt for ATMs or other utilities when in market? 10. How frequently do you use an ATM? 11. What problems do you face while using it? 12. What type of interface do you prefer? Touchscreen / Buttons/Both 13. Which language would you prefer in interface? 14. How comfortable you are using Maps for directions? Or do you prefer narratives for directions? 15. DO you use mobile phones and computers? (what kind) 16. Would it help to have dedicated information kiosk for local markets? 21

User Research Findings Analysing user feedback

Survey Results 23

Redefining the brief Based on user research insights

Key Features of Information Kiosk based on User Research

Based on the user research we redefined our design brief to include the following features:

§ Interaction similar to ATM machine § Standalone application § Touchscreen interface § Audio feedback § Multilingual § Demo Support § Location Based Search § Category Based Search § Keyword Based Search § Handy printouts of Maps 30

Personas Understanding the Target Audience

Personas

Information Organisation Defining Categories & Sub-‐Categories

Categories and Sub-‐Categories of Shops

Explorations Ideating on various Concepts

Blueprints

Design Iterations Initial Screens

Usability Evaluation Testing the interface

Final Information Kiosk Bazaar One : One Stop Information centre for Local Markets

Interface Screens

Conclusion To sum it up, this solution in form of Bazaar One uses technology to bring information about local, unorganized and unexplored bazaars to the local people. Using physical digital information kiosks, ‘Bazaar One’ aims at making the shopping experience of average citizen more comfortable and enjoyable.